Latest content: Commonwealth Climate Change Programme

The Commonwealth, through the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub  has supported Saint Lucia to secure a new climate finance grant from the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN).  The $200,000 grant will enhance the climate resilience of local communities in Saint Lucia.

Powerful satellite technology can help Caribbean countries better manage natural disasters and boost climate resilience, as the region braces for a busy hurricane season.

The Commonwealth Secretariat is calling on member countries to consider the impact of agriculture, forestry and land use on climate change as they update their climate targets.

Commonwealth countries committed to saving the ocean will benefit from new knowledge gained from the Seychelles, which has just designated almost a third of its ocean as marine protected areas (MPAs).

The Secretary-General joined climate finance advisers and technical experts from the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub in a virtual meeting to mark the success of recent applications in Tonga and Antigua and Barbuda.  

The Commonwealth has signed a new agreement with NDC Partnership to support Zambia and Belize with their climate action plans.

The Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub has helped Tonga secure a grant of over $1.6 million USD from the Green Climate Fund to help the country adapt to climate change.

The Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub has supported Mauritius to secure a €600,000 grant to help smallholder farmers adapt to the changing climate in Mauritius.

The Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub has successfully helped Jamaica to secure a grant of over US$270,000 to integrate gender concerns into their climate action planning process. 

The tranquil waters and palm-lined beaches in Barbados mask a rising threat. That this same water can engulf and endanger all if ample action is not taken. 

Climate change will be high on the agenda when Commonwealth Heads of Government meet in Rwanda this year - more than three decades after their predecessors recognised the threat and drew up a visionary action plan to avert the crisis.

The Secretary-General will reassure Caribbean leaders that the Commonwealth will keep fighting for bold climate action on the global stage. 

The Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub has successfully helped Tonga to secure a grant from the Green Climate Fund to reform the country’s solar electricity body.

Cyclones in the Caribbean and Pacific, devastating bushfires in Australia, recurrent floods and droughts in Asia and Africa, increasingly bring tragic loss of life to our nations and communities, causing irreparable damage to centuries old ways of life.

The Commonwealth Secretary-General has called for raised ambitions and intensified climate action in light of sobering reports by the world’s top climate scientists.

One of Seychelles’ youngest executives is calling for countries to put more trust in young people as leaders on climate change issues.

One of Sri Lanka’s most widely-acclaimed artists has a message for young people in the Commonwealth: “move together” in the fight against climate change.

In an increasingly changing environment and warming climate which threatens the very existence of mankind, good data and information on exactly what is happening has never been more important.

The Commonwealth has entered into an innovative partnership with a UN agency to enhance climate action and disaster preparedness via satellite earth observation.

The Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub has helped Tonga secure a grant to put the country on the path towards low carbon emissions and climate-resilient development. The Green Climate Fund grant will pay for a two-year ‘readiness programme’ preparing Tonga’s National Designated Authority to better engage with the Green Climate Fund and manage activities sponsored by the fund in the country.

An increasingly important aspect of Commonwealth cooperation to fulfil our collective commitment to sustainable development is our work on halting - and wherever possible - reversing the very severe desertification and degradation which occurs when land is used carelessly or too intensively.

“We are in trouble. We are in deep trouble with climate change. Climate change is running faster than we are and we must catch up sooner rather than later, before it is too late”. United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres at UNFCCC, COP 24

The Secretary-General has expressed solidarity with the people of The Bahamas in a visit to the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama which were hit by Hurricane Dorian last month.